In 1943, Ralph & Dorothy Terhune planted what is now referred to as “the old orchard” on 20 acres purchased with their hard-earned savings. Having no children, Dorothy (or Czecher as she was known) hired her young nephew Richard to help out on weekends and summer vacations. Czecher sold her prized apples one at a time out of the shop in their garage & drew many loyal customers.

Very few of those large, old standard trees remain but Richard Czech and his wife Janet have never left. They purchased the adjacent 20 plus acres, planted it with newer trees & more popular varieties. They modernized the operations, put up the barns & built their family home on the hilltop amidst the rows of apples. Faced with falling wholesale prices and competition from large mechanized farming operations in the early 1980’s, Richard & Janet realized the farm could only survive by expanding that loyal local customer base with more retail sales. They sought out opportunities like the newly formed NYC Greenmarket and opened up the farm to the public for what was becoming a popular trend with pick-your-own apples.

Their son Eric and his wife, Alison have kept the tradition alive by purchasing Ralph & Dorothy’s old farm house and an additional 40 acres next door to develop the stone fruit & berry crops and create the recipes that have become the heart & soul of the bakery - all of which have enabled the farm to become a year-round operation.

Our Family Farm

Terhune Orchards Our family is dedicated to growing quality fruit with a focus on selling directly to the consumer. Established in the heart of New York's Hudson Valley, we have been providing heirloom varieties of apples and premium tree-ripened stone fruit and berries for over seventy years.